BurmaNet News, July 8, 2009

[Editor]

July 8, 2009, Issue #3749


INSIDE BURMA
DPA: Aung San Suu Kyi ready for resumption of her trial, lawyer says
Irrawaddy: Meeting with Ban “Unsatisfactory”: NLD
Reuters: Landslide caused by rain kills 30 in Myanmar
DVB: Burma’s youth ‘to look for another way out’
DVB: Internet clampdown during UN chief’s Burma visit

BUSINESS / TRADE
IMNA: Loans offered to farmers through village headmen with mixed reviews

HEALTH / AIDS
Xinhua: Myanmar excludes A/H1N1 virus from cause of pig deaths

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima News: US concern over state of democracy in Burma

OPINION / OTHER
Reuters: The world is running out of options on Myanmar
Guardian (UK): Facing down persecution – Melissa Brown




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 8, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Aung San Suu Kyi ready for resumption of her trial, lawyer says

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was briefed for two hours by her
defence team Wednesday and is well prepared for her trial which is
scheduled to resume on Friday, one of her lawyers said.

Suu Kyi's defence team met with the Nobel peace laureate in Insein Prison
in preparation for the continuation of her trial Friday, when defence
witness Khin Moe Moe will testify, Nyan Win, one of her lawyers, said
Wednesday.

"Daw (Mrs) Aung San Suu Kyi is fully prepared for whatever happens at the
trial," Nyan Win said.

Nyan Win, who is the official spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD) party, also informed Suu Kyi that United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been denied a meeting with her by the
junta during his brief trip to Myanmar on Friday and
Saturday.

"She made no remark on that," Nyan Win said.

Myanmar's military regime refused Ban's request to meet Suu Kyi on the
grounds that she was currently on trial, and such a visit might prejudice
the judiciary.

The excuse was deemed ridiculous since it is well-known that Myanmar's
judiciary does not operate independently of the junta.

Ban said he was "very disappointed" by the refusal, and described it as
"missed opportunity" for the regime.

Khin Moe Moe, an NLD member and professional attorney, was originally
scheduled to testify on Friday, but the court session was postponed until
July 10, shortly after UN chief Ban arrived in Yangon.

A special court has been set up at Insein Prison to try Suu Kyi for
breaking the terms of her detention by allegedly permitting US national
John William Yettaw to swim to her lakeside home-cum-prison on May 3 and
stay until May 5.

Suu Kyi's trial began May 11. While the prosecution was allowed to present
14 witnesses in the first week, the defence was initially allowed only
one. Later a second witness, Khin Moe Moe, was permitted.

Critics have accused the military junta of using the case as a pretext to
keep Suu Kyi in jail during a politically sensitive period leading up to a
general election planned for next year.

Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention.

Suu Kyi's NLD won the 1990 general election by a landslide but has been
blocked from power by Myanmar's junta for the past 19 years.

The new trial of Suu Kyi, whose most recent six-year house detention
sentence expired May 27, has sparked a chorus of protests from world
leaders and even statements of concern from its regional allies in the
Association of South-East Asian Nations.

____________________________________

July 8, Irrawaddy
Meeting with Ban “Unsatisfactory”: NLD – Saw Yan Naing

The Burmese opposition party National League for Democracy (NLD) said a
meeting between the party leaders and UN chief Ban Ki-moon during his
two-day trip to Burma was “unsatisfactory” because of the severe time
limitation.

Win Naing, a spokesperson for the NLD, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday
that his party will release a statement on Thursday about the details of
the meeting with Ban in Naypyidaw on July 3.

Four central committee executives of the NLD, Hla Pe, Soe Myint, Nyunt Wai
and Than Tun, met with the UN general secretary in Burma’s new capital.

Win Naing said his party leaders were firstly allowed to meet and talk
with Ban for only two minutes. The party leaders were then given ten
minutes after they asked for more time.

“We are not satisfied with the time limit. We wanted to discuss current
events far more and submit our proposals, but we had no choice,” said Win
Naing.

During the meeting with Ban, the NLD’s executive members talked about the
release of political prisoners, calls for dialogue and a review of the
current constitution, said sources in Rangoon.

During his two-day visit, Ban also talked with Burma’s No 1, Snr-Gen Than
Shwe, and urged him to release an estimated 2,100 political prisoners and
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and embark on democratization ahead of
multi-party elections scheduled for next year.

Ban also asked for a meeting with the detained opposition leader Suu Kyi.
Than Shwe rejected his request, reasoning that the opposition leader was
under trial.

Ban ended his visit to Burma on July 4 as Burmese observers were
commenting that his trip had been “a failure” due to his failure to meet
with Suu Kyi.

Before he left Rangoon, the UN general-secretary said he was "deeply
disappointed" that junta chief Than Shwe had refused his requests to visit
the detained pro-democracy leader.

Journalists in Rangoon, however, said that hough Ban had been humiliated
by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, his frank message to the generals would
have irked them.

The NLD also stated that the failure of Ban’s trip was due to the Burmese
generals’ unwillingness to move forward to democratization in Burma and
not the efforts by the UN secretary general.

Win Naing said, “Ban Ki-moon tried his best. But, he failed to achieve
what he wanted because of decisions by the Burmese government.”

“We recognize what the UN has tried to do for Burma, on the contrary,” he
added.

Nyan Win, the main spokesperson for the NLD, also said that the failure
was due to "a lack of willingness and genuine goodwill on the part of the
government.”

Ban’s first trip to Burma was in May 2008 after Cyclone Nargis had slammed
into Burma’s Irrawaddy and Rangoon Divisions. During his first trip, he
eased the junta’s tight control over the inflow of international
humanitarian aid to parts of the country affected by the cyclone.

____________________________________

July 8, Reuters
Landslide caused by rain kills 30 in Myanmar

A landslide caused by torrential rain killed about 30 people in northern
Myanmar at the weekend when it swept away their homes, which were built on
a mine dump, people in contact with the area said on Wednesday.

The accident occurred at Lonkhin Jade Mine near Phakant, in an area about
1,500 km (930 miles) north of Yangon known as Jade Land.

"So far as we heard from our field offices, about 30 people were killed
when their houses built on the mine dump were swept away in the flash
flood caused by torrential rain on July 4," said a Yangon-based jade
merchant, who has offices in Lonkhin and Phakant.

A government official from Myitkyina, about 80 km (50 miles) east of
Phakant, confirmed the accident.

"We also heard there were some casualties in the landslide, which came
last Saturday after it had rained heavily for about four days," said the
official, who asked not to be identified as talking to the media is
prohibited.

"The road between Lonkhin and Phakant remains blocked and inaccessible."

Such accidents are common in the rainy season in that area, known for
Myanmar's famous ruby and jade.

At least 20 people were killed in flash floods in Moegok and Phakant in
June and July last year.
____________________________________

July 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma’s youth ‘to look for another way out’ – Htet Aung Kyaw

The political stalemate in Burma following Ban Ki-moon’s visit could push
youth activists to increase pressure on the regime themselves rather than
wait for the UN, said a former Burmese ambassador to China.

Frustration has grown in Burma following what many consider to be a failed
attempt last week by the UN Secretary General to urge the ruling junta to
release political prisoners and begin dialogue with opposition groups.

Thakin Chan Htun, a veteran Burmese politician who was ambassador to both
North Korea and China, said that the junta’s failure to recognise such an
opportunity could lead youth activists to look for another way out of the
political crisis.

“The whole world knew that [Ban] was looking forward to a meeting with Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi yet [the junta] still denied it,” he said, adding that it
“clearly shows how the junta regards the UN secretary”.

The absence of any dialogue between the junta and opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD) party is causing “deadlock” in the country, he
continued.

“But things can change unexpectedly and youths are the people who have
guts to come forward and do what is needed to do. That’s why the junta is
arresting every youth who stands up against them.”

World leaders, including British prime minister Gordon Brown, have
condemned the Burmese government’s lack of willingness to meet the
requests laid down last weekend by the UN chief.

Some suspect that the looming visit by Thai prime minister Abhisit
Vejjajiva to Burma, ostensibly to discuss business interests between the
two countries, could also address the Ban Ki-moon visit.

“It might be to discuss what they can do regarding the points made by Ban
Ki-moon, and the [Association of Southeast Asian Nation]’s opinion on
Burma issues mentioned in the joint statement,” said Dr Thaung Htun, UN
representative for the National Coalition Government for the Union of
Burma.

Ban Ki-moon is due to prepare a report on the visit after his current
diplomatic tour ends, although it remains unclear what steps will now be
taken by the UN on Burma.

“We expect a binding resolution based on a UN Security Council
discussion,” said Thaung Htun.

Gordon Brown on Saturday told the BBC that the lack of a sign of change
from the regime “has put increased isolation - including the possibility
of further sanctions - on the international agenda”.

____________________________________

July 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
Internet clampdown during UN chief’s Burma visit – Ahunt Phone Myat

Internet users in Burma were impeded by slow connections and faced
questioning by authorities last weekend as surveillance on internet cafes
increased during Ban Ki-moon’s visit.

A number of internet connections were cut off during the two-day visit,
while authorities blocked access to certain international news websites
and email providers, including Google Mail.

“We heard [authorities] did this to prevent people getting news of the UN
secretary’s visit,” said an internet café employee under condition of
anonymity.

An internet café user said that authorities were slowing internet
connections to a point whereby files and other information could not be
emailed.

“By doing so, they can escape from being blamed for completely cutting off
the internet connection,” he said, adding that a number of internet cafes
were under surveillance.

“Recently an internet place I was sitting was visited by some police
officials. They just came in the place and started questioning people
about the website they were surfing at the time.”

Internet users in Burma are subject to heavy restrictions, which often
tighten during politically sensitive times.

In May, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) name Burma as
the world’s ‘worst country to be an internet blogger’, citing the
draconian restrictions on internet use.

Vincent Brossel, head of Asia desk at media watchdog Reporters Without
Borders (RSF), said that tampering with the internet was a common tactic
used by the Burmese junta “to prevent the spreading of information”.

“It’s very pathetic that the government has to do at such an opportunity
as when the UN Secretary General is in the country - they fear that this
information can circulate about how Mr Ban Ki-moon was so badly treated in
the country,” he said.

“The tactic is
to create fear among the people who are sending news and
pictures and testimonies to the outside that they can be caught.”

Ban Ki-moon on Saturday said he was “deeply disappointed” by the visit, in
which he was twice denied a request to meet imprisoned opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.

The junta claimed that a meeting between the two was no feasible because
Suu Kyi is on trial.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 8, Independent Mon New Agency
Loans offered to farmers through village headmen with mixed reviews –
Panorkkyar

This June the Burmese authority, Myanmar Agriculture Development Bank,
began offering farmers direct loans in Mon State.

The Myanmar (Burma) Agriculture Development Bank staff members went to
every village in Mudon Township and discussed with village headmen the
loans for farmers.

One village headman told IMNA that the development bank had discussed the
recipients of the loans being able to use them (village headmen) as
intermediaries to facilitate the necessary loans.

“They have never come and talked to us before this year...I think this is
because of the 2010 election so people will agree to vote for their party
[the SPDC],” added the village headman.

In the past, Mon State farmers have had to travel to larger towns to apply
for the loans. This year the demand has been high, following the severe
drop in rubber prices, and in Mudon the demand has been amongst the
highest.

The current planting season requires large stores of fertilizer and recent
flooding destroyed many paddy fields and rice seedlings in Mon State. Said
one farmer, "although I don't want to borrow government money, I have to
because I need to buy fertilizer and I have to pay my workers."

The farmers would pay the same monthly tax (3 kyat for every 100 kyat
borrowed) and could take the loan at the village headman’s house.

Another Mudon farmer said, "this year business has been difficult so
farmers are taking out more loans than last year. For one acre [of paddy
or plantation] they give you 10 thousand kyat...when the rice grows, we
can give back not only with money but also with rice [paddy]."

The government has lent money to farmers indirectly for years though some
bemoan the interest and also the timing. With the ability to pay with
paddy plants to the government in lieu of money, farmers sometimes have to
do so when the price of rice is very low. Still, many find themselves in
need of immediate money due to the economic crisis and the current demands
of the planting season.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

July 8, Xinhua
Myanmar excludes A/H1N1 virus from cause of pig deaths

The Myanmar health authorities have confirmed that the recent death of
nine pigs in a pig farm in a Yangon's suburban township was due to food
poison and not because of swine flu, the local weekly 7-Day News reported
Wednesday.

According to examination of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary
Department, the nine pigs bred in the South Okkalapa township died of the
food poison on June 28 for being fed with littered rotten food.

The nine pigs out of 23 died on the spot, while three others were rescued
after the case was reported to the authorities.

There has been so far no case of swine flu infected to pigs in Myanmar but
a single girl who was infected with new influenza A/H1N1.

However, the new flu A/H1N1 case has been under control in the country,
according to Wednesday's announcement of the Health Ministry which also
confirmed that none of the 203 persons coming into contact with a new flu
girl victim were found further infected with the A/H1N1 virus.

Myanmar reported the first case of new flu A/H1N1 in the country on June
27 with a 13-year-old girl who developed the symptoms after coming back
home from Singapore a day earlier.

The girl patient is now reported to be in the stage of gradual recovery
after she was hospitalized.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 8, Mizzima News
US concern over state of democracy in Burma – Mungpi

The US State Department has given vent to its concern with the political
developments in Burma and has specifically called for the release of Aung
San Suu Kyi, the detained opposition leader currently facing trial.

Ian Kelly, the State Department spokesperson on Tuesday told reporters, “I
think our concerns with the state of democracy are very well known. We
have of course called for the release of the 2,100 political prisoners in
Burma.”

“We’ve called very specifically for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,”
Kelly added.

Aung San Suu Kyi is currently standing trial on charges of violating her
detention rules. She could be sentenced up to five years, if found
guilty..

Kelly also said that the Obama administration is currently into a review
of its Burma policy.

“We have a new Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Mr.
Kurt Campbell. So I would suppose that we will have more to say when we
begin to wrap up this policy review,” he added.

The State Department’s message came after the United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon was not allowed to meet the detained Burmese Nobel
Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi during his two-day visit to the country
last weekend.

Ban said he was ‘deeply disappointed’ over the junta’s refusal to allow a
meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, saying Burma has lost a precious
opportunity.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 8, Reuters
The world is running out of options on Myanmar

The international community has few options left for Myanmar after the
U.N. secretary-general's failure last week to engage the recalcitrant
military regime.

Having risked his reputation by accepting an invitation to visit the
isolated southeast Asia state, analysts believe Ban Ki-moon left with
nothing to show for his efforts.

Denying Ban even a meeting with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, the junta, more than ever, seemed impervious to criticism and
comfortable in its isolation.

"The U.N. secretary-general card has (now) been played, Ban has lost and
we're not very surprised," said Derek Tonkin, a former British ambassador
to Thailand, now a Myanmar analyst.

"I don't know where the international community can go from here."

The situation is likely to be discussed at the regional forum of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phuket, Thailand, later
this month, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in attendance.

But even if they have recently broken with tradition and ventured
criticism, the smaller neighbours of Myanmar, the former Burma, are
unlikely to achieve much and ASEAN's strategy of granting the generals
membership as a way of getting them to accept regional norms on democracy
will once again be shown up as a failure.

A statement reiterating demands for the release of Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners is expected, but is likely to fall on deaf ears.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at the weekend that the world was
preparing to "respond robustly" to the junta, but Myanmar's snub of Ban
and previous U.N. special envoys suggests diplomacy is futile and a
tougher approach is needed.

DEALING WITH GENERALS, NOT DIPLOMATS

"Everyone has tried diplomacy, but these are army generals we're dealing
with, not diplomats," said Mark Farmaner of the Burma Campaign UK.

"The generals are impervious to criticism, but not to pressure. They're
scared of real pressure and it's a myth they think they're invulnerable."

Although not yet on the table, a U.N. Security Council resolution is an
option, but risks opposition from China -- the closest Myanmar has to a
major ally -- and Russia, who are among the five veto-wielding permanent
members able to block action.

Some analysts suggest the U.N. should test the regime by threatening legal
action over its poor human rights record, by way of an International
Commission of Enquiry or referral to the International Court of Justice.

Increasingly, China could hold the key.

It has shown more diplomatic flexibility of late and supported two
resolutions on sanctions against neighbouring North Korea for its nuclear
weapons programme.

As in North Korea, Beijing is concerned about instability in Myanmar and
might be willing to act to forestall that, lest it interfere with its
considerable commercial interests.

"The generals feel they can get away with anything because China will give
them blanket protection, but that may not be the case," said Debbie
Stothard from the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma.

"It's time for a U.N. resolution and time for Ban to take off the kid
gloves regarding Burma. The regime is afraid of the Security Council, but
if it doesn't act, the generals will continue to do whatever they like,"
she said.

____________________________________

July 8, Guardian (UK)
Facing down persecution – Melissa Brown

Behind Aung San Suu Kyi stand hundreds of lesser known writers and
activists paying the price for speaking out

There was a powerful moment at the end of a recent vigil held to mark the
64th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi and to call for an end to her decades
long detention. One of the demonstrators pinned a photograph of General
Than Shwe, the head of Burma's ruling military junta, to the doorway of
the silent but watchful Burmese embassy, across the portal from a picture
of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The juxtaposition of the two faces highlighted, far more forcefully than a
dozen speeches or articles, the gaping moral gap between a regime
responsible for brutal and systematic persecution and a profoundly human
opposition.

Aung San Suu Kyi's dignity and beauty are undoubtedly powerful tools in
the campaign against the junta and one of the many reasons that the
ongoing campaign for democracy has supporters right up to the highest
level, including our own prime minister who is said to telephone the UN's
Ban Ki Moon, just returned from an apparently fruitless mission to Burma,
twice a week to discuss the situation there.

But we must not forget the many hundreds of lesser known writers and
activists who live in daily fear of assault or assassination or are
wasting away for lack of medical help in some of the world's most
notorious jails.

In some cases, there are only one or two photographs of them in existence
– grainy snaps of their younger, more hopeful selves – for us to look upon
and mobilise around.

That is why tomorrow, English PEN, with the help of comedian Jo Brand and
poet Ruth Padel among many others, will be highlighting the situation of
imprisoned and persecuted writers around the world.

Those like Mexican writer, Lydia Cacho, author of several books on the
child pornography trade who lives in fear of having her throat slit by
shadowy forces who want to stop her work. Or the Saudi Arabian author and
journalist Wajeha al-Huwaider who has been arrested and harassed
repeatedly for her human rights writing and activism.

The tomorrow's main focus will be on Burma. We will hear the words of Aung
San Suu Kyi whose trial on trumped up charges begins again on Friday. But
there will also be readings form the work of the Burmese comedian and poet
Zargana who was sentenced last year to 59 years in prison, commuted to 35,
for leading a private relief effort to deliver aid to victims of the
Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.

Many other writers have been rounded up during recent crack downs; those
like journalist Zaw Thet Htwe, sentenced to 19 years for helping Zargana
in the relief effort or the Burmese musician and Win Maw, arrested in a
Rangoon tea shop and charged with "threatening national security" after
sending news reports and video footage to the Norway-based Democratic
Voice of Burma radio station during the protests in August and September
2007. Win Maw is now serving six years in the infamous Insein prison in
Rangoon.

It is for these brave individuals just as much as Aung San Suu Kyi, that
we need far more decisive international action against the junta. Her
global fame offers a level of protection.

The lesser known must live in fear of the worst fate of all; that they
will become just one of the many faceless disappeared.

English PEN Writers in prison committee and JAM host Breaking Through the
Silence. St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey, July 9, 7.30pm. Tickets
from English PEN.